Electrical apparatus



April 14, 1942. P. o. GROUT I ELECTRICAL APPARATUS Original ,Filed Sept.s, 1934 :FIGJ.

w n OLN .R..R cwm a m w C ms M m w a m m 6H m m 0 1 5 9 -3 M w wh m. w

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 *UNITED STATES rerun-T OF E Q Intcornrizfiigiamrus V I Raytheon- Manufacturing Company, Newton, .Mass.,a corporation of Delaware originalapplication September '6, 1934-,Serial J No. 742,913,!1owPatent No. 2,171,512,-dated August 29, 1939.[Dividedand this application July 19; 1939,..Serial No. 285,465

Claims. (o1. 248-358).

This invention relates to a support for an electrical spacedischargetube. sion of my copendingapplication'foran improvement inElectrical apparatus, Serial No. 742313,

filed September 6, 1934, which has now matured iporting structure; and

Fig. 2 is a side View of the structure-shown in Fig. 1.

I have devised a novel electric arc-welding machine comprising -a'gaseous discharge rectifier, and various other-elements. This system isdescribed and claimed in myxPatent No. 1,928,848. 7 1

The Weldingmachine is often subjected to se- This is a diviverehandling, and since the rectifier tubeis generally constructed of' glassand usually contains a considerable quantity of .mercury, it isnecessary to protect the tube in 'order to prevent dam- .age to it as aresult of such handling, The chief danger of damage resides in the freebody of mercury inthe tube. If the tube were merely supported by aresilient structure, and were subjected to a sudden displacement,Oscillations by the tube of considerable amplitude would be set up.There would also be a tendency for the mercury to be thrown from onepart of the tube to another. The impact of the body of mercury would belikely to damage the construction within the tube. Such a tube 6 ismounted in a sup port 5 which avoids the above difficulty andeffectively prevents any severe shocks from damaging the tube.

The support 5 consists of a base 95 and a frame 96. These parts arepreferably constructed of standard angle iron. The frame 95 in theembodiment shown is U-shaped. Two braces 91 are provided to afiord theproper rigidity to the support of the frame 96. The frame 96 at theupper end carries the two brackets 98 andthe base 95 carries the twobrackets 99 in vertical alignment with the brackets 98. In order to holdthe tube 6, a split ring I00 is provided. The two halves of this ringare held together around the tube =6 by bolts IN; The, upper half of thering I00 carriesa loop I02 which fits over the top neck I03 of the tube"6. The lower hal'f'of the ring I00'carries -a'loop I04 which fits :overthe lower neck -I05of'the tube6. To thetwo sides of the lower. half ofring I00 are connected two bars I06 each having a hole at its upper andlower end. Two upper springsIOt'; have their upper ends hooked over thetop brackets 98 and their. lower ends hooked through -:the holes in theupper ends of -bars I96. Two lower springs [I07 have their upper endshooked through the .holesin the lower ends of-bars' I05 and their lowerends hooked onto 'thei lower brackets 99. In'this way tube 6 carriedby-the ring I00 is resilientlysupportedzwithrespect to the framel96;

In order to prevent excessive oscillation of "the tube 6 and in order toprevent the body of mer curywithin the tube from damaging'th'e internalconstruction thereof; the ring I00 has connected thereto a specialsnubbing device". Thissnubbing device consists mainlyof, -an inertiawheel I 08. The Shaft I09 of the inertia wheel H18 is rotatably' mountedon the rear cross-bar '0 of the base 95. The shaft I09 also carriesapulley I II around which is wound the snubber'cablev I I2. The snubbercable has one or more'turns around the pulley III. 1 One. end of thecable H2 is securely fastened to" the lower side'of ring IIlIl'by somesuitable means such as the eyelet H3 and pin "41? A'jpulleyfg I I5-issecured 'to the lower side of base 95. Cable .I-I2'passes 'over pulleyI15 before it passes around the pulley III. In order to apply the propertension to cable II2, a spring H6 has one end thereof connected to theother endof the cable H2. The other end of the spring H0 is securelyfastened to the frame 95, as shown. A pulley H1 is mounted to the rearof the bar I I0. The cable passes over the pulley In between the pulleyIII and the spring H6. By the use of the two pulleys II5 and II I, theinertia wheel I08 may be placed in any desired position, whereby thespace available maybe used to the best advantage.

The various elements of the above system are so chosen that when thetube 6 is suddenly displaced downwardly, the cable I I2 will loosen onthe pulley I I land the spring I It will take up the slack, causing thecable M2 to slip around the pulley I I I. At the same time springs I00will be tensioned. When the springs I05, due to their tension, start tomove the tube 6 upwardly, the cable I I2 will tighten on the pulley II Iand tend to cause pulley III to turn. This likewise tends itsneutralposition. The action which takes place between the inertia wheelI08 and the cable "2 is similar to that of a one-wayclutch. Thus inertiawheel rotatably mounted with respect to in certain instances it may bepossible to sub- In stitute other one-way clutch structures in mydeviceinstead'of the specific one shown in thedrawing. This action thusprevents any sudden upward movement of the tube 6. sudden upwardmovements which tend to throw the body of mercury in the bottom of tube6 against other parts of the'tube, the snubbing action performed by theinertia wheel and its associated structure effectively'removes thisdanger.

In order to provide a convenient means of holding the various electricalconnections to the tube 6 in place, the frame 96 is provided with anumber of'insulatingblocks II8, each provided with a plurality of slots'I I9in which the electrical conductors for tube 6 are held. One or bothof the braces 91 also havea similar block I20. On the front cross-barI2I of the base 95 is mounted an insulating bar I22 carrying a number ofbindingposts I23 for the purpose of making the proper connections to thetube. Due to this arrangement, the tube 6 may be assembled in its frameand be connected electrically in the proper manner before the frame andtube are placed in the machine. Upon being placed therein and bolted inplace, most of the electrical connections of the tube 6 to the machineitself may be accomplished by connecting the proper conductors to thebinding post .Of course it to be understood that-thisinvention is notlimited to the particular. details of the arrangement as described aboveas many equivalents will suggest themselves to. those skilled in theart. It is accordingly desired that the appended claims be given a broadinterpretation commensurate with the scope of the invention within theart.

iWhat is claimed is:

l. A support foran electrical space discharge tube comprising a rigidsupporting frame, an auxiliary supporting means for supporting saidtube, springsinterposed between said auxiliary supporting means and saidframe for resiliently supporting said auxiliary supporting means, an

ertia wheel, a cable attached at one end to said auxiliary supportingmeans and having at least one complete turn around said pulley, and atension spring connected to the other end of said cable.

p A 2. A support for an electrical space discharge -tube comprisingsupporting means for support- Since it is ing saidtube, a supportingbase, means for resiliently supporting said supporting means on saidsupporting 'base, an inertia wheel rotatably mounted with respect tosaid supporting base, a

pulley fixed to said inertia wheel, a cable attached at one endrto saidsupporting means and having at leastone complete turn around saidpulley, and a ten'sion'spring connected to the other end of said cable.

' tube comprising a rigid supporting frame, an

auxiliary supporting means for supporting said tube, springs interposedbetween said auxiliary supporting means and said frame for resilientlysupporting said auxiliary supporting means, an inertia wheel rotatablymounted with respect to said supporting frame, a pulley fixed to saidinertia wheel, a cable attached 'at one end to said auxiliary supportingmeans and having a turn around said pulley, and a tension springconnected to theother end of saidcable.

5. A support for an electrical space discharge tube comprisingsupporting means for supporting said tube, a supporting base, means'forresiliently supporting said supporting means on said supporting base, aninertia i wheel rotatably mounted with respect to said supporting base,a pulley fixed to said inertia wheel, acable attached at one end to saidsupporting means and having a turn around said pulley, and a tensionPRESCOTT D. GROUT.

